Question for OR nurses, regarding standing up for yourself.

drums326 · May 22, 2011

Gotta do what ya gotta do as long as you are always keeping in mind the patient's best interest!

That being said, a little goes a long way. A lot of times the surgeons are nervous or don't feel comfortable with you yet...so try to make nice and introduce yourself and such. You always attract more flies with honey!

Surgeon personalities are usually stereotypical, certain OR nurses will gel easier with GYN than Ortho.

Some nurses use the strategy of being a total kiss ***, others use a tough love strategy, others get walked all over...My best advice is to be very observant while orienting to the operating room, and take a little bit that you like from every person that you work with until you build the habits of the ideal OR nurse!

Java_Wench · May 23, 2011

Thanks very much for the advice! I guess you just figure out your own way to handle it as you go. :)

lockheart678 · May 24, 2011

Developing a thick skin is very important in the OR. When things start to go downhill and the doctors start yelling, you have to remember that it's the situation they're yelling about, not necessarily you. Staying calm is the best thing that you can do so that you are not compromising your ability to help care for that patient. As you gain more experience, it becomes easier to handle upset doctors, whether it is a case gone very bad or just a surgeon with an attitude. We are all there for one reason, and if my surgeon gets out of line, I have no problem standing up to him to protect our patient. As long as you're not downright rude to them, you shouldn't get in trouble for doing your job. I have found that, in most instances, my surgeons have apologized for their behavior after they realize what they've done. You're always going to have people who are too arrogant for that though, and you'll learn to live with it and move on. Thankfully, I have discovered that most of the surgeons and anesthesiologists I work with are very pleasant.

ORnurse77433 · Jun 2, 2011

I think having thick skin is helpful in the OR environment, however, I feel that establishing a relationship with the surgeons is even more important. If they know what you are capable of their expectations will line up with that, and they won't expect more from you than you have to give. Once you have a time established relationship with them you will know when and how much you can give back to them, and when you should take your lickin' for something deserved.

Rylee2008, ASN, RN · Jun 21, 2011

I work in a smaller OR and we actually all get along pretty well. My hospital is getting better at not tolerating a hostile work environment. I let things roll off my back, but I will stick up for myself. No one deserves to be dumped on because others are having a bad day, but I do pick my battles because during some situations, its not appropriate to knit-pick.

canesdukegirl, BSN, RN · Jun 22, 2011

Oh yes, you can certainly stand up for yourself. However, you have to understand first where the surgeon is coming from if he starts acting like The Hulk.

For example, I worked with a surgeon who has EXCELLENT technique. He does not suffer fools easily, and states his expectations right out of the gate. One of the techs reached down below the sterile field to pull the drapes up in the middle of the case-ummm...yeah, MISTAKE! The surgeon went off on her, calling her an idiot. Was he right to go off on her and call her an idiot? Of course not. He should have contained his anger, but seeing things from his viewpoint, now the entire field must be broken down, the pt re-draped and his schedule just got delayed by at least half an hour.

I also worked with a surgeon who was just a jackwagon. He would use the most foul language-and I am not exactly your resident saint, so I wasn't offended. But how many F-bombs do I really need to hear during a case? He would treat everyone in the room as if they were a gnat. The last straw for me is when I was trying to find an appropriate shoulder immobilizer for a pt who had just had a very complicated shoulder surgery. When I asked this surgeon if he ordered the specialty immobilizer that we typically use for these cases, his response was, "No. Just use the cheapies that we have. This guy doesn't have insurance anyway." Oh. Emm. Gee. You BET I went off on him.

The first two examples were of surgeons who were 1. Displaying an inappropriate way of communicating his anger, even though he was correct to be angry. 2. A surgeon who didn't care about his patient, leaving me to be the patient advocate (which I take very seriously). This third example is a surgeon who was personally attacking me:

I don't work with this surgeon often. He is well known nationally for his research, his surgical skills, and his success rate in his field. I was the pinch hitter because the regular circulator had called out sick. This guy didn't know me from Adam, but had seen me around in the OR. As we were setting up the case, the pt was draped and he had taken his seat at the head of the bed (we were doing a glossectomy). I was plugging in the bovie and the suction, which were at the foot of the bed. As I finished doing this task, the anesthesiologist handed me a tube of blood and asked that I run it for a CBC since the pt did not have one pre-op. I was just starting over to the head of the bed to plug in his headlight. He said to me, "You are SO SLOW! Why don't you try moving your ass so that we aren't here all night!" Well, you can bet with every beat of your heart that I gave him what-for. I said to him, "You may be the best surgeon in your field, but that gives you no right to speak to me like that when I am busting my butt trying to get your case started. If you had looked at your own pt's chart, you would have seen that there was no pre-op bloodwork, so now I must pick up the slack because neither you or your resident seemed to have felt that a baseline blood value was in order for a procedure that has the potential for acute blood loss." He was quiet. He shook his head and remained quiet. I never got an apology from him, but I have noticed that he tries to be very cordial to me in the hallway now!

So in answer to your question, yes, you can stand up for yourself. More importantly, you MUST stand up for your patient.